Alabama

Former Alabama defensive lineman Wilson Love (51) preps for a drill during an August 2013 practice in Tuscaloosa, Ala. A University of Alabama student filed a lawsuit against Love Sunday, claiming the former footballer viciously beat him in March 2012. (Vasha Hunt/vhunt@al.com)

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Days before the statute of limitations would have prevented him from doing so, a University of Alabama student is suing former Crimson Tide defensive lineman Wilson Love for allegedly beating him up on a trip they took together in 2012.

Connor McKenna, a marketing and advertising student at the university, claims in a lawsuit filed electronically Sunday afternoon that Love attacked him without provocation in a Los Angeles hotel room they shared during the school's 2012 Spring Break.

Both men are members of the UA chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. According to the lawsuit, they vacationed together in March 2012 at the Hotel Erwin in Los Angeles. McKenna alleges that on or about March 11, 2012, he returned to the hotel from a night of drinking and "was viciously physically attacked by Defendant Wilson Love who jumped on [McKenna] without any provocation, assaulted and beat [McKenna] with his fists."

According to the lawsuit, Love beat McKenna so severely that he passed out and woke up locked out of the hotel room the two men were sharing. McKenna claims his nose was broken, his teeth chipped and loosened and his face was cut during the alleged beating.

McKenna's suit says he was treated for his injuries at Marina Del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles and underwent additional surgeries back in Tuscaloosa for the damage to his nose.

According to the McKenna's complaint, the medical services he needed after the alleged attack cost him more than $14,000, and he was billed $1,700 for damage to the hotel room he shared with Love.

"These charges were for linens and furnishings stained by Plaintiff’s blood as well as for cleaning and repair," the complaint says.

At the end of the lawsuit, McKenna says Love originally admitted to the beating and said he and his parents would handle paying the resultant bills, but has since denied any responsibility.

McKenna is suing Love for assault and battery as well as wantonness, asking for a judgement against Love and $100,000 for his suffering. McKenna also asked for additional punitive fines to be levied against Love at a jury's discretion.

Love, whose older brother, Tyler, was a former Alabama offensive lineman, never saw the field during his four seasons with the Crimson Tide. The 2010 signee from Mountain Brook rarely dressed out this past year because of an unknown lingering injury.

Love was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in January. He graduated in December with a degree in marketing. A representative for the University confirmed that Love was no longer on the team, and hasn't been since Alabama's loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl.

This marks the second time in the past month in which the university has notified reporters that a player was no longer with the program after a negative incident.

McKenna is listed in the university's campus directory as a current student, and according to his LinkedIn profile, is expected to graduate this year. Alabama's statute of limitations allows victims to file civil suits for personal injury up to two years after the original incident. McKenna's suit was filed just two days before that deadline would have passed.